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What makes silver fulminate so explosive?

I've seen those little "bang snap" things that you throw on the ground to make a bang sound, but was wondering why the silver fulminate is so reactive. I also watched an episode of breaking bad where the main character threw a large chunk of it at the floor and the entire room exploded. Is there a reaction that causes it so be so sensitive to things like that? #chemistry

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Larry’s Answer

Even chemists need to look up things to remind them of what they may or may not know...the explosive solid is a crystalline material (Ag+ and CNO-) that is shock sensitive, so I learned at Wikipedia which has a really nice summary with references. Even more dangerous are dried salts of perchlorate and metal ions (Metal ion-ClO4 ion). There have been serious injuries to chemists while using these without thinking about safety first.
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Harshini’s Answer

Most types of fulminate are very explosive. The reason for the explosion is because they contain so much fine gravel which is compressed in a very small space. When it is thrown against a surface, the impact of the granite hit against the sturface causes the explosion. Hope that was helpful, have a great day!
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